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16 PrecisionMarketing Response Awards in association with the International Direct Marketing Fair
Best Responsive Press Initiative
WINNER
Virgin Media
Truth, Lies and Broadband
Rapier
The objectives of the campaign were threefold: to
prove to people that Virgin was the only company
they could trust to give them the best broadband;
encourage switching; and generate calls and Web
hits.
Virgin Media boasts a superior broadband prod-
uct – fibre optic cable broadband – to any of its
rivals. But Rapier’s challenge was to tell people that
in a way that would make them care, believe and
ultimately switch.
The key insight that informed the strategy was
that people were increasingly sceptical and
annoyed about the misleading way companies were
selling broadband: “free broadband” wasn’t free,
and “superfast broadband” was actually pretty
slow.
Rapier’s strategy was to tell people the truth
about broadband speeds – and so create trust
for Virgin Media while casting doubt on the com-
petition.
It planned vertically-integrated layers of com-
munication to maximise the responsiveness of the
press activity, and used long copy press to engage
and educate. This was followed up with simple
direct response executions, offering people a cork-
ing deal that really was as good as it sounded.
The combination of “halo” engagement press
and hard working offer-led press delivered the com-
pany’s most responsive campaign of the year: deliv-
ering 43 per cent more response than an average
Virgin Media press campaign, and a 60 per cent
improvement in cost per response.
This campaign challenged the market in a way
only Virgin could – using the long copy format and
a genuine conversational tone to educate people
using objective facts in place of traditional adver-
tising over-claim.
The campaign owes much of its success to the
way the dual elements work together, taking the
consumer on a journey from ignorance, through
information, through to response.
The strategy and creative idea connected with
the audience so well that the campaign smashed all
previous benchmarks in terms of calls, sales and
ROI. Winner: Virgin Media
Copywriters: John Townshend, Ross Newton, Liz
Franklin
Art directors: Simon Stephenson, Sarah Richards,
Rob Ferrar
Account handler: Philippa Cripps
Planners: Bill Griffin, Alex Naylor, Diana Court-
ney-Evans
Finalist
Scottish Hydro Electric
Yes. It really is greener on the other side
Story
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